Although our industry is relatively young compared to others, we have quickly expanded over the past few decades, both through the use of professional organizations such as CAI, as well as the use of ever-emerging technological solutions. These solutions, when used properly, will greatly benefit your company and improve the level of service you provide to your clients. This article has been written based on our first-hand experiences with the technology we have implemented in our office and with our clients. In some cases, we have noticed that life is now easier because of technology. But, in other situations, life has been taken away. The purpose of this article is not to list the various technological solutions that we all hear about everyday. Rather, to analyze the pros and cons of using this technology to accomplish the ultimate goal… keeping our clients happy.
Do you remember when you used to spend all day on the phone with your Board Members, having to call each member for their approvals? How about getting up from your desk to visit the fax machine? Anyone who has been in this business for ten or more years knows how our offices used to run. But, with the advent of email, managers barely leave need to leave their desk anymore. The use of electronic fax servers and software now means that managers can send a receive faxes right from their own desks, saving time and delivering a faster response to boards and vendors. New phone systems called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) mean lower phone bills (ours was cut by 75%) and the ability to be more flexible when not in the office. Our Managers can now have their office voicemails sent to their email accounts in MP3 or WAV format. And, if one is creative, even sent to their personal PDA. Now, calling all five board members in some cases is a thing of the past. Most work can be accomplished with a few emails, or even a conference call.
Speaking of PDAs, some managers seem to be working 24/7 now. But, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves where this industry is headed. Managers should not have to work more hours just because technology allows them to. The burnout rate in this industry can be very high, and it is up to the CEOs, VPs and various other supervisors to know when enough is enough. At our office, we encourage our employees to use their PDAs for business use, and in some cases, we provide them with a PDA. But, we have documented clear instructions on how to use these devices, and have encouraged them to not use them after-hours and to never give their personal cell phone numbers to clients. Free software like Google Voice can help managers keep their numbers private, and better yet, keep their sanity.
New technology can also benefit the manger and the residents through the use of websites, Facebook, Twitter and user forums. In many cases, this electronic connection between management, the board and residents can help promote a better sense of community, and let the residents know that the board and managers are people too. But, in some cases it backfires. Owners who are not willing to accept the board’s choices will quickly turn to online media to bash them and their decisions, often spreading like a bad disease. To minimize this, our office uses sites like Facebook and Twitter, but puts limitations on the use of these sites, and we often block the ability for residents to respond to our posts. This way, we can use these sites to keep residents informed and updated about community issues in real-time, without the potential backlash.
Our website is another way we can keep our residents happy and informed. We allow residents to pay their dues online, which has been very popular with a small group of them who prefer to deal with a keyboard rather than a checkbook. Additionally, we upload the association’s governing documents, minutes, notices, reports and many other items to their own online fileserver. This has been very popular with both managers and residents as these documents can be accessed 24/7 without the need for either party to take time out of their busy day to contact each other.
Although survey mailers are still popular amongst our boards, sites like SurveyMonkey can benefit communities where most or all of the residents are online. Instead of spending the time and money to prepare and send a mailed survey, we can have it out to homeowners within minutes, and have responses returned to us within hours. This results in a faster response to the board, allowing them to make more informed and more timely decisions. Decisions that the owners want. However, those owners who are not online are still asking us to send surveys in the mail, so they can actually see the words on paper and take extra time to make a decision.
In conclusion, there are still a few solutions that we have tried, but not figured out how to use yet. Being able to send video messages to our owners though Eyejot sounds really fun and informative. But, do the residents and board members really want to see the manager’s face in their email and deal with larger files to download? Even when we post to Twitter, are we sending too many updates, or not enough? If we don’t send enough, residents will stop paying attention to our posts. Even worse, too many posts will make owners unsubscribe from the site altogether.
It is very helpful to the staff when the supervisor keeps an open mind. As our generation of managers keeps getting younger and more technologically savvy, the “elder” supervisors need to take into account the employee’s preferences when it comes to how they manage their community. After all, a happy manager usually results in a satisfied client. And, isn’t that what we all would like to see?